I don’t have a cat, because I’m allergic, but I do love them. I
know plenty of people with kitties, and have heard all
sorts of hilarious stories about the things they get
into, or things they steal to make their own. You might
as well give your kitty their own toy, or they’re just
going to decide your fabric stash will be their new
entertainment.

Stuffies are perfect toys for little kitties, and add a
little (or a lot) of catnip to the mix, and you’ve got
the perfect cat toy! I’ll show you how to make one for
your little feline friend.

So, I’m going to show you how to make the little
skeleton fish stuffie, but these directions will work for all of the in-the-hoop
stuffies. You will need:

First, let's start by cutting out our stuffie shapes. If you
have software, you can print the template files. If
you’re unable to print them, hoop up your stuffie fabric
and “stitch” the dielines out.

Once you’ve got the dieline on your fabric, carefully
cut out both the back and front pieces. If you’ve
printed your dielines, it’s best to add a little bit of spray
adhesive to the back of the paper to keep it in place
while you’re cutting it out.

When you’re done, you should have two little fabric shapes,
one for the front of your design, and one for the back.

Now grab your hoop and hoop up a piece of tearaway
stabilizer.

Start
your machine sewing. The first thing it will stitch is a dieline.

Grab your front fabric piece, and lightly spray the back with
some adhesive. Place it just inside the stitched dieline. Once it’s in place, set your machine sewing
again. It will stitch a tack down seam all the way
around your fishie.

Next, your machine will stitch all the inside details on your
stuffie, like our little fishie’s skeleton. Once all the
inside details are stitched, it’s time to add the back.

Flip
your hoop over. Take the back piece of fishy fabric,
lightly spray the back of it with adhesive, and gently
lay it inside the dieline on the back, like shown. Don’t
press too hard on it from this side.

To secure your fishie in place, flip your hoop back over
again, and push on it from the front. If you push on it
from the back, you might tear the stabilizer out of the
hoop.

Once
your fabric is secure, carefully place your hoop under
your machine again. A note before you start stitching
again, since the stitches will be visible on both the
back and front of your stuffie, it’s best to have
bobbin thread that matches your fabric for this last seam.

Let your machine stitch the final seam. You’ll notice your
machine will sew around your fishie, but not meet all
the way back up. Stuffies will leave a small gap in the
seam for this final tack down so you have a small gap to
stuff it with.

He's ready to be stuffed! You can see here the small gap you have
to work with. It’s not much, but it’s enough to fill him
nice and plump.

If you’re just making a regular ol’ stuffie, you’ll want just
Poly-fil, but if you figure this is going to become a
cat toy anyway (as they often do) you might as well grab
some catnip too.

You can fill your fishie with stuffing...

... or a mix of stuffing and catnip, or if you want a crazy
happy kitty, just catnip.

Just a
warning... stuffing with catnip is messy. About as messy
as what will happen when the kitty gets a hold of it.
Stuff you fishie in a place where you can tidy up
easily.

Once your fishie is nice and plump, you can either close the
gap by sticking him back under the sewing machine, or if
he’s too big to fit, stitch him up by hand.

Your finished stuffie! Cute and cuddly, and just waiting to be
pounced on. Especially since this one is filled with
nothing but catnip.

That’s one happy kitty. Hey, this one might not last long,
but that’s the beauty of these little stuffies. You can
always make kitty another one!

OMNOMNOM!

The thing about making cat toys (or dog toys, for that matter)
is that you’re sending your lovingly crafted masterpiece to be
torn apart by the claws and teeth of a wild beast. But they’re
so cute, how can you resist! Sew a
dapper mouse out
of menswear castoffs, follow
tiny patterns to
make a whole zoo of cute cat toys, and entertain your felines
with
yarn scrap toys.
Even
people toys can
amuse the kitties!